Christopher Rice
Describe your latest project.
Light before Day is a book that contains sentences, chapters, and chapter headings. (Oh, and page numbers, too!) Seriously, I hate this question because humility tells me to keep it brief but I can never stick to one genre or label when trying to describe my own work. It's like that Saturday Night Live skit from the '70s: "It's a floor cleaner." "No, it's a dessert topping!" "It's a floor cleaner!"
Suffice it to say that Light before Day is a crime novel, a multiple-freeway-utilizing exploration of the State of California, and the story of an unlikely friendship between a young gay reporter and the straight detective novelist who becomes his boss (and makes merciless fun of his tight jeans). It might also, under the right conditions, be a dessert topping. Along the way, beautiful young gay men vanish without a trace and a Marine helicopter flies right into the ocean.
If someone were to write your biography, what would be the title and subtitle?
"Christopher Will Be Here Shortly!": A Writer Entertains
What fictional character would you like to date, and why?
Jack Reacher, hero of Lee Child's bestselling thrillers. He has a strong moral core and he sounds like a total babe.
Introduce one other author you think people should read, and suggest a good place to start.
Like almost every writer who has just entered the mystery scene, I'm all about Ross MacDonald right now. I think he remains the master of the genre. If you don't agree with me, ask his biographer Tom Nolan or bestselling novelist Sue Grafton. The man has inspired almost every heavy hitter in the genre, yet not all of his novels are currently in print, which is a deep shame. The Galton Case is one of his most moving works. Even if you're not a die-hard mystery fan, you can just sit back and admire the precision and momentum of his writing.
What is your astrological sign? If you don't like what you were born with, what sign would you change to and why?
Pisces. I like it just fine. It's a sign that indicates indecision, which in turn indicates periods of bisexuality and crippling self-doubt. I'm done with the bisexuality but I remain ninety percent Piscean.
Describe the best breakfast of your life.
It begins at 10 a.m. when a mysterious sunburst interrupts all phone service and television reception. I enter the living room to find three carafes of hot coffee and a stack of hardcover novels that comes up to my knee. Everyone's so wigged out by the sunburst that they don't remind me to eat; they don't nag me to eat; they don't accuse me of having an eating disorder. Then, a few hours later, there's no one around to see me sweating Starbucks and scratching at my skin like a speed freak as I shove a sandwich in my mouth and try to regulate my breathing.
Share an interesting experience you've had with one of your readers.
At a signing in Chicago, a young man approached the table and asked me to sign his stomach. Only after he had raised his shirt and I was halfway through my last name did I realize the guy could not have been any older than sixteen. I lay awake in my hotel room that night, expecting his furious father to start pounding on the door.
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